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Post Captain is slow and it’s not as regularly-scheduled-adventure as some of them, but it’s a good read. If you don’t find the country house stuff fun i am sorry, because it’s hilarious. The bear scene which might be the most bizarre thing in any of these books. Canning. Scriven. That last battle with the Polychrest. Great ending too
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Sep 9, 2023 13:19
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It sets up HMS Surprise which I really liked and I swear I don't cry reading about Dil, who would do that?
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Sep 9, 2023 15:46
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Sarern posted:Any of these would be an excellent approach, but every time I've gone back to Post Captain I've liked it more and more, until now it's among my favorites in the series. The first time through, I found it to be an obnoxious slog. Same. First time I read it I just skimmed to the naval action. But over the series O'Brian taught me to enjoy Jane Austen, and now I love both Post Captain and Pride and Prejudice.
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Sep 9, 2023 18:09
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I feel like Post Captain is kind of integral in setting up a lot of very long and very important storyb and character threads that continue on though the stories that you shouldn't skip it. Also I don't know why the other person said it was the shortest, I think it might actually be the longest of the entire series which works against it.
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Sep 9, 2023 18:14
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screaden posted:I feel like Post Captain is kind of integral in setting up a lot of very long and very important storyb and character threads that continue on though the stories that you shouldn't skip it. It's definitely the longest in the series but that's because all the other ones are really short  I meant that compared to the doorstop tomes of trash fiction I routinely read through, Post Captain is short but feels longer, I just wasn't clear about that.
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Sep 9, 2023 18:19
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My mail is here! I think - it’s been at least five years - I will give Post Captain another go and if I start slipping I will skip ahead.  edit: I know the stack is missing books but that’s OK I can fill it in as I go. StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Sep 9, 2023 |
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Sep 9, 2023 18:23
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it’s…it’s beautiful
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Sep 9, 2023 18:27
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StrixNebulosa posted:My mail is here! This is what I'd suggest. Read as Thou Wilt is the Whole of the Law but Post Captain genuinely is a great book and it sets up a lot of the rest of the series.
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Sep 9, 2023 18:40
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This is a series that teaches you to savor every word. I wouldn’t stress it, if it doesn’t click with you the first time, it will on the next re-read of the series.
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Sep 9, 2023 18:45
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yeah as always if any part of it isn't working just let it wash over you and sail forward
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Sep 9, 2023 18:47
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No kidding, I’m getting so much more out of master and commander on a second read and there’s still more I don’t understand. But it’s so good! “There’s a plague ship let me help survivors!” as Jack and crew leave at speed. 
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Sep 9, 2023 18:50
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Yeah Post Captain wasn't my favourite but I'm already planning to basically start the series again the second I've finished Blue at the Mizzen and I am actually really looking forward to getting back to Post Captain. Was it that one that had Jack say of Stephen, "watch out, my man is deadly"? Because what a great line.Kylaer posted:It's definitely the longest in the series but that's because all the other ones are really short Alright that's fair.
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Sep 11, 2023 02:18
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screaden posted:Yeah Post Captain wasn't my favourite but I'm already planning to basically start the series again the second I've finished Blue at the Mizzen and I am actually really looking forward to getting back to Post Captain. Was it that one that had Jack say of Stephen, "watch out, my man is deadly"? Because what a great line. That's HMS Surprise (Canning's second does not heed him).
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Sep 11, 2023 17:29
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I would think that's a line that lots of seconds routinely run out before duels and just as routinely is dismissed as fiction by the opposing seconds. A more modern statement with the same meaning & weight: My sports team is better than yours
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Sep 11, 2023 20:07
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Really enjoying the books, currently on Treason's Harbour. Reading the comparisons to Austen in this thread made me ponder: Could the books have been written in the same time period that they were set? Or are there aspects of the plot, writing style or themes that would only be done by a writer looking back 150 years into the past?
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Sep 12, 2023 12:39
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There were real 19th century naval adventure novels that you can read as a comparison—look up Frederick Marryat. Marryat was a retired captain writing in the 1830s, more or less for a generation of readers who didn’t really remember the wars themselves, and definitely formed the prototype for the modern Napoleonic naval fictions like Hornblower or Aubrey-Maturin. Pop-lit guys of the day like Fenimore Cooper were definitely writing about seamen too though I can’t tell you if they were any good at it. There’s plenty of moral anachronism in these books although not usually to a ridiculous extent. I think it is particularly unlikely that a character like Maturin would have been created by an English author of the day. An Irishman with revolutionary inclinations who wants to get with a proper(ish) lady? and hes a spy who does drugs? A lot of the character reads like someone very disappointed about the 60s (the 1960s I mean). e: also too many swears. O’Brien sometimes dashes them out (in the first few books especially) but the hero of a 19th century sea novel is not going to be fending off drunks with a mild “gently caress you too, mate” e2: I looked it up and since it’s public domain and all, Marryat’s “Mr Midshipman Easy” is available as a free ebook on Project Gutenberg. Strong recommend, it’s hilarious and in a way that’s quite reminiscent of POB, but will very quickly remind you of the difference in mindset. skasion fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Sep 12, 2023 |
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Sep 12, 2023 13:15
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skasion posted:There were real 19th century naval adventure novels that you can read as a comparison—look up Frederick Marryat. Marryat was a retired captain writing in the 1830s, more or less for a generation of readers who didn’t really remember the wars themselves, and definitely formed the prototype for the modern Napoleonic naval fictions like Hornblower or Aubrey-Maturin. Pop-lit guys of the day like Fenimore Cooper were definitely writing about seamen too though I can’t tell you if they were any good at it. One of the reasons I like O'Brian is that there's definitely the moral anachronism you talk about, but he does it in a more authentic way than a lot of modern authors - Maturin's commitment to equality and opposition to slavery is consistent with his overall revolutionary beliefs, for example. On the other hand, reading Marryat is a hell of an experience in the opposite direction - I think it's Mr Midshipman Easy that has a one-page aside about why having to "pass for gentleman" is Cool and Good for officers, and a separate scene when comically evil mustache-twirling Jesuits are trying to frighten an old lady to death so the Catholic Church could get her stuff.
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Sep 12, 2023 20:06
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Notahippie posted:One of the reasons I like O'Brian is that there's definitely the moral anachronism you talk about, but he does it in a more authentic way than a lot of modern authors - Maturin's commitment to equality and opposition to slavery is consistent with his overall revolutionary beliefs, for example. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in there somewhere. Mr Midshipman Easy has this a whole embarrassingly heartfelt soapbox digression where the narrator goes on about how in Our Proud Service, The Wonder of The Civilized World, seniors shouldn’t insult junior officers because it starts a vicious cycle of abuse of power. It’s really kind of touching until you remember that all the childhood chapters were comic apologia for the idea of caning goodness into your kid. And the attempt at a well-developed black character is uh…fascinating (remember, this came out 50 years before Huckleberry Finn!) Basically it’s a lot like what you’d get if Admiral Aubrey chose to spend his retirement penning novels, right down to the terrible puns.
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Sep 12, 2023 20:19
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I have Jury Duty at the court in downtown San Diego, which is walking distance from the Maritime Museum, where the Surprise replica (from the movie) is docked. I walked down there and had my lunch looking out at it. Only a sandwich, sadly, no soused pig’s face nor any plum duff.
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Sep 12, 2023 21:15
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Funny that Post Captain should be the recent topic here, as I just got back into this series and I've been struggling with that book. A love triangle is bad enough, but a love triangle centered around someone so deeply unpleasant is just awful and I can't wait for them to get to sea and hopefully leave it behind. It's obvious that Stephen and Diana are going to end up together (though god only knows why), but please tell me it happens in this book and we can put this whole storyline to bed.
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Sep 13, 2023 02:50
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Kestral posted:but please tell me it happens in this book and we can put this whole storyline to bed. I have bad/good news
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Sep 13, 2023 02:52
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Diana owns, I won’t have any slander.
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Sep 13, 2023 02:55
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Something must be in the air, I'm on my first read through and am halfway through Post Captain. This is my second shot at reading the book, I bounced off about a third of the way through the first time. This second attempt I'm having a much easier time and enjoying the book more especially now that I am a bit further than I got the first time. I really like Diana, too. I feel like she's trying to live life on her own terms as much as she can.
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Sep 13, 2023 03:33
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The ending of post captain is amazing! All that hostility between maturin and Jack, and it just stops in such a simple but deeply emotional and satisfying way. I did not enjoy the book either when reading it the first time, but that ending made it worth it.
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Sep 13, 2023 10:10
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I'm on my second go-round with A-M, however I've been listening to the audiobooks. Maybe it's the way Patrick Tull reads it, but I loved Post Captain both times I've listened to it. The audiobooks are insanely good and I would actually really recommend them for a first time through as his narration gives a lot of context to some things that might be otherwise confusing.
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Sep 13, 2023 10:28
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skasion posted:I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in there somewhere. Mr Midshipman Easy has this a whole embarrassingly heartfelt soapbox digression where the narrator goes on about how in Our Proud Service, The Wonder of The Civilized World, seniors shouldn’t insult junior officers because it starts a vicious cycle of abuse of power. It’s really kind of touching until you remember that all the childhood chapters were comic apologia for the idea of caning goodness into your kid. And the attempt at a well-developed black character is uh…fascinating (remember, this came out 50 years before Huckleberry Finn!) Embarrasingly heartfelt is exactly what I felt reading the bit about passing for gentleman - it made an impression on me because he uses really high-flying language and says something like "for naturally, who would fight harder: someone without a family history, or someone who must carry the reputation of centuries of unblemished escutcheon."
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Sep 13, 2023 16:44
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"My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"
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Sep 13, 2023 19:41
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Master and Commander, during the fight with the Cacafuego - they’re preparing for a boarding action. Jack orders “tell the cook to put all his dirty pans and coppers upside-down.” Why?
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Sep 14, 2023 02:02
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StrixNebulosa posted:Master and Commander, during the fight with the Cacafuego - they’re preparing for a boarding action. So the sailors can use the soot on the bottom for the blackface ruse.
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Sep 14, 2023 02:09
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uPen posted:So the sailors can use the soot on the bottom for the blackface ruse. Oh! Of course! Thank you!
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Sep 14, 2023 02:16
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A Proper Uppercut posted:I'm on my second go-round with A-M, however I've been listening to the audiobooks. Maybe it's the way Patrick Tull reads it, but I loved Post Captain both times I've listened to it. The audiobooks are insanely good and I would actually really recommend them for a first time through as his narration gives a lot of context to some things that might be otherwise confusing. Yeah Patrick Tull is excellent; there's no real competition.
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Sep 14, 2023 03:24
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Ric Jerrom's narration was spectacular, so if Patrick Tull's is even better on my second circumnavigation I don't know how I'm going to handle it.
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Sep 14, 2023 05:35
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Funny but I just read in Letter of Marque:fanny posted:
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Sep 14, 2023 06:15
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TerminalSaint posted:Ric Jerrom's narration was spectacular, so if Patrick Tull's is even better on my second circumnavigation I don't know how I'm going to handle it. In previous experience with other audiobooks that switched narrators in the middle of a series it can be really hard to make that switch when you're already used to another.
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Sep 14, 2023 12:05
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Blake Howard is finally launching his long promised Master And Commander podcast - Podcaster and Commander. Its 99% about the production of the film - not suprising as Blake is a huge cinefile who made his bones with a 100+ episode series on HEAT. https://www.oneheatminute.com/podcaster-and-commander Anyway, its a huge deep dive into the production of the film. The first ep has some dodgy sound issues but its a great look at the behind the scenes and the dedication that Peter Weir had in bringing the spirit of the books to screen.
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Sep 14, 2023 13:57
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I'm only a few pages into Post Captain and already enjoying it a lot more this go 'round, as I'm not sitting around being impatient for Jack to have a boat again! Instead - since I know it's coming - I'm just enjoying the comedy of Stephen hanging out with the most subtle spy of all time, Jack's horse having his own POV and agenda, and so on.
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Sep 14, 2023 17:02
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Post Captain is a great reread IMO. I never even realizee what Scriven was really doing until the second read.
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Sep 16, 2023 01:51
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Jack I know you’re in France but claiming your father is a monk and your mother a nun? Come on!
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Sep 16, 2023 03:03
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Mulaney Power Move posted:Post Captain is a great reread IMO. I never even realizee what Scriven was really doing until the second read. StrixNebulosa posted:I'm only a few pages into Post Captain and already enjoying it a lot more this go 'round, as I'm not sitting around being impatient for Jack to have a boat again! Instead - since I know it's coming - I'm just enjoying the comedy of Stephen hanging out with the most subtle spy of all time, Jack's horse having his own POV and agenda, and so on. Is this just a reference to Scrivens signaling the bailiffs to come arrest Jack at the party? That line about a subtle spy made me wonder if there's something else I missed, but from my reading he wasn't "really doing" anything in particular, he was just a pathetic little scrub that failed at being a highwayman and sold them out at the first opportunity.
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Sep 16, 2023 18:25
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I think part of what makes Post Captain so hard to read on a first go-round is that the author implies so much. Diana having sex with Jack, and Stephen catching them? Entirely implied, you have to put things together based on where he's going and his reaction. The funniest of these is the bear - no explanation until after we have a dancing bear about what's up. And like, I respect the author for respecting his readers, and it makes it extra rewarding to pay attention, but to the me of years ago, who was cranky that Jack's being stupid and Stephen's being weird and Diana seems to be playing games with them both, it made it easy to get confused and then extra annoyed when something weird would happen. No wonder I quit the book in a huff!
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Sep 17, 2023 00:26
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